In Syria's rebel-held city Qusayr, which has been besieged by government forces for months, the shelves are empty and the market practically destroyed as residents prepare for a difficult Ramadan.

"There are only 50 grocery stores still standing in the whole of Qusayr, and their shelves are empty," sighs merchant Nadim, with the annual fasting month just days away.

The Syrian authorities freed on Tuesday 275 prisoners who were "involved" in the popular uprising against President Bashar Assad, state TV reported.

"The authorities have freed 275 prisoners involved in recent incidents, but none of them have blood on their hands," the state broadcaster said.

The Libya trial of ex-intelligence chief Bouzid Dorda, the first of Moammar Gadhafi’s top officials to face justice, was postponed again on Tuesday after the defense team asked for more time to review his case.

"The trial was postponed until August 28 to allow the defense to study the case," defense lawyer Saleh al-Faituri said.

Yasser Arafat's widow is to file a lawsuit in France following allegations the Palestinian leader died at a Paris hospital in 2004 after being radioactively poisoned, her lawyers said on Tuesday.

"Mrs. Suha Arafat, widow of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, has asked a Parisian legal practice to file suit against an unnamed person under French jurisdiction," lawyer Pierre-Olivier Sur's practice said in a statement.

U.N.-Arab League peace envoy Kofi Annan met top Iranian officials Tuesday before flying to Iraq, as he sought the help of key regional players in shoring up his tattered peace plan for Syria after meeting President Bashar Assad.

Annan underlined Tehran's importance in international efforts to stem the bloodshed, following talks with Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi.

Russia has sent a naval flotilla of six warships led by an anti-submarine destroyer to its naval base at the Syrian port of Tartus, the Interfax news agency reported Tuesday.

The Admiral Chabanenko and three landing craft have left their home port of Severomorsk in the Arctic Circle on their way to the Mediterranean where they will be joined by the Russian patrol ship Yaroslav Mudry as well as an assistance vessel, a military source told the agency.

Egypt's dissolved parliament convened on Tuesday in defiance of the powerful military and the judiciary, amid a legal crisis triggered by a presidential decree to reinstate the Islamist-led assembly.

"We are gathered today to review the court rulings, the ruling of the Supreme Constitutional Court," which ordered the house invalid, speaker Saad al-Katatni said.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Tuesday called for talks among all those involved in a showdown between the Egyptian parliament and the military to bring an end to the crisis.

"We urge that there be intensive dialogue among all of the stake-holders in order to ensure that there is clear path for them to be following," she said in a press conference after talks in Vietnam.

Russia said Tuesday it wanted to host a new meeting of foreign powers concerning the Syria crisis but stressed that the talks should not decide the fate of President Bashar Assad.

Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said the attempt made in Geneva on June 30 to save international envoy Kofi Annan's tattered peace plan for the crisis needed to be continued with the involvement countries such as Iran.

Al-Qaida's front group in Iraq has claimed responsibility for a spate of attacks last month, including dozens on June 13, when violence across the country killed 72 people.

The Islamic State of Iraq, in a statement posted on jihadist Internet forums, said it carried out 47 attacks over several months, including 27 on June 13, which was the country's deadliest day since August 2011.